


Dependence

by Mello_Drama_Reborn



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 13:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4394204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mello_Drama_Reborn/pseuds/Mello_Drama_Reborn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kai stood waiting in a back alley fight agrea. </p><p>Kourin's scooter idled at a sidewalk long empty. </p><p>Aichi arrived at Cardshop Psy just as Ren was putting down his first cup of coffee. In the back room, Suiko set another cup on her tray for their second guest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after episode 48.

"I knew it was you." 

As Aichi entered the fight area of Cardshop Psy, there was something about his voice, like someone in a trance, but edged with satisfaction that made it sound concious. Ren nodded, and Aichi remembered how much he enjoyed Ren's attention. The most feared fighter in Japan had shown him considerable favor so far- he'd built him a deck, had taught him about his power- Aichi couldn't help but feel flattered whenever the man took an interest in him. 

As if hearing his thoughts, Ren smiled at him as he got off the steps of the large room, silently making his way to one end of the holographic fight table. 

"So, Aichi. Are you enjoying the deck I gave you? Do you regret leaving your old deck?"

Aichi let out a low laugh as he followed Ren's lead and stood at the other end of the table, looking fondly at the deck in his hands before placing it on the panel.

"I like it very much, thank you." 

Ren smirked, enjoying the confidence radiating off Aichi, basking in it as if it were his own as he placed his own deck on the panel.

"Do you think you've mastered it?"

Another laugh from Aichi, this one more indignant.

"Mastered it? Such a thing is simple for me now- unneccessary, even."

It was Ren's turn to laugh, and when he looked up, his eyes were consumed by the light of psyqualia.

"Then do you think you can beat me? Do you think your psyqualia is stronger than mine now?" There was an edge to his voice, a challenge- he wanted to see the limits of Aichi's arrogance, towards the person who had helped and nurtured him so far. 

Aichi could feel Ren's psyqualia washing over him in waves, overwhelming in it's strength so that it made him dizzy, made his legs tremble and weak. But every touch seemed to deepen his own psyqualia, and the prospect of absorbing such an relentless power made him grin, even as he felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck.

"I can beat anyone."

"If you're that confident, then why don't we make it more interesting?" Ren was still smiling, loving the way Aichi refused to be afraid of him. He wanted him for himself now, more than ever. "There's an open spot on AL4- if I win, you leave Q4 behind and join us." 

For the first time since he heard psyqualia's voice, he hesitated. In just a few days, Q4 would be in the final stage of the national championship- Kai had already left them at regionals; without him, Kamui and Misaki had no chance of winning.  
That thought brought another- the memory of the elimination rounds, of Kamui and Misaki hopeless against the might of even the Foo Fighter's replacement team.  
Aichi had grown strong- already, Q4 was dragging him down. While he'd been searching for an ultimatum of his own, he realized he might've asked for the same thing of Ren if he won. With Kai no longer in Q4, Aichi's interest in the team had been waning- he'd been slowly tiring of his old friends excpecting him to be the same person he was before psyqualia, as if waiting for him to show his old weakness.  
Weakness was something he could no longer afford- he had to prove his strength was real, and he'd allow no one to undermine that. 

When Aichi's expression fell, Ren frowned. He had thought Aichi had changed, but now he wondered if he was still the timid person who'd participated in the last tournament, so helplessly dependant on his friends. It was a disappointing thought, that Aichi's change was just a mask.  
Ren was pulled out of his doubts by the feeling of Aichi's psyqualia washing over him, his answer already audible in its waves before he spoke them.

"Sounds interesting- I accept." 

 

Kourin arrived halfway through their battle, defeat instantly turning to urgency on her features as she saw what was happening. The waves of power coming off the fighters was almost unbarable, so much so that she was suprised to see Suiko and Rekka at the edge of the room watching. When Kourin approached, Suiko gave her a serious look, and Rekka's cheering dyed down, an unfamilar light filling her eyes.

"Good, you've arrived. The two who have been chosen by pysqualia have finally come together." 

Kourin looked at her in shock, instantly recognising the voice controlling Rekka's.

The two fighters paid no mind to the girls as they discussed the purpose of psyqualia, of wars and ledgends. It hardly mattered, anyway- the outcome was decided the second they set their decks down- shadow paladin had the strength of two vanguards guiding their swords, neither shying away from psyqualia's guiding voice.

In terms of skill and in terms of trigger luck, they seemed equally skilled- both always being one step ahead of the other kept them equally matched. Instead, the deciding factor seemed to be the strength of the illusions they cast on each other- repeatedly drawing each other into Cray, they held a sword as often as they held cards.  
Just as Aichi thought, his psyqualia was encouraged by Ren's, his images far more vivid then they'd been before, the shock of each swing of his sword ringing through his arm even after his turn ended. It was a delicious sensation, overwhelming the head of Foo Fighter with his power- to see him trembling as he gripped the card table for balance. He was almost delirious with his own ability, his power to be dominant.  
Meanwhile, each blow Aichi struck against him only made Ren's revenge sweeter- he felt Aichi's psyqualia before the match, already knew how much more mature his own power was. This was an endurance match, who could break the other first, and he knew he was stronger. The alterations of pain and triumph, of striking down and being struck down, made this match more intense, more satisfying than any other.

Ren's vision came to fruition. His savage blows knocked Aichi to his knees, his whole body throbbing with pain. The fatigue of overusing psyqualia easily caught up with him in this state, and dizzy with pain and fatigue, he fell to the mercy of Ren's onslaught, more vicious without psyqualia's strength to guard against it. Aichi didn't have the strength to hold his cards by the time the battle ended with Ren's swift victory, an extra critical on Phantom Blaster Dragon's already charged lance making the final blow a savage one.  
As Aichi fell to the floor unconcious, his power seeped out of him, surging into Ren and combining with his own. For a moment he felt true victory- then that power pushed out of him all at once, and the sudden lack of strength made his legs buckle underneath him, the weakness and fatigue he'd endured with adrenaline alone suddenly overtaking him as he fell unconcious as well.


	2. Chapter 2

When they came to, Cardshop Psy was gone- it's purpose served.  
Immediately they both felt something was missing- a hollowness inside them that made them anxious and uncertain. They'd both been helplessly dependant on psyqualia, had given up everything for it. Even though they felt it's absence like a gaping wound, they refused to accept it. 

They went immediately to Foo Fighter headquarters- Aichi had never been there, and wasted no time being in awe of the facilities. Though they were still sore from their previous battle, the wounds inflicted before having reached near reality, they moved quickly to a standing card table. They had to be sure it was really gone. 

The battle was devestatingly different from their last. The room was quiet, their images weak, like they were both in half sleep. Still getting over the mental fatigue of psyqualia, their minds moved sluggishly as they played alone for the first time since becoming reliant on that power. The match moved effortlessly in Aichi's favor- it'd hadn't been so long ago since he had been playing on his own strength, after all, and Ren was wracked with the loss of his power.  
Though it had been a normal game, Ren fell to his knees with his loss. Aichi hesitated on the other side of the table, before moving next to him. Uncertainly placing a hand on his shoulder, Aichi could feel Ren trembling under his fingers. 

"Aichi..." They'd hardly spoken to each other since regaining conciousness besides announcing their moves to each other, and Ren sounded so different than he had just a few hours ago in Cardshop Psy. "Aichi, now that I've lost that power... Will you reject me?" 

At Ren's words, something flared inside Aichi. Underneath those words, he could hear the name he was actually calling, and the sound of it brought back the bitterness that had first carried Aichi into psyqualia's embrace. 

"No- I won't leave you." The words came with even more confidence than he'd meant- he barely knew Ren, and outside their shared power, it was almost nothing. With their only connection gone, it would be easy to retreat to his old life, to go back to how he used to be and pretend that nothing happened.  
He could apologize to Q4- maybe, now that he had the power to defeat Ren, they could even win nationals together. But the thought of reverting to his old self filled him with self loathing- he still wanted to be strong, to be rid of dependance. 

Aichi pulled Ren to his feet, the taller man slouching as if his very soul had been taken out of him. Seeing Ren- before his very image of power, in such a state only strengthened Aichi's resolve.  
"Ren-san, let's become strong." 

 

Tetsu and Asaka seemed surprised to see Aichi in Foo Fighter headquarters, but with Ren out of sorts, they listened to him attentively. Ren only asked them the same question he'd asked Aichi, the sound of those words still making Aichi bristle. Of course, they both agreed to stay. 

Though they had both yet to rest properly, Ren and Aichi stood eagerly at seperate fight tables, their teammates joining them on the other side. Still in shock with the loss of psyqualia, both had burning in them a question they could not answer alone: Am I still strong?  
Ren lost to Tetsu as he had to Aichi, with Tetsu murmurring reassurances to him after, soft whispers that did more for him then Aichi knew how to at this point.  
Aichi had lost all certainty in his own power, didn't trust his deck to come through for him without psyqualia's guidence. He played too cautiously and easily lost his hand to Asaka's continuous attacks, causing Asaka to laugh with mock disgust. 

"As I thought, your performance at nationals was pure luck! You're hardly qualified to fight here, let alone stand alongside Ren-sa-" 

"Enough, Asaka." 

Ren's voice broke through her taunts instantly, his voice as cold as ice. Rather than continue, Tetsu stood up beside him, adressing the others with a controlled calm.

"Tommorow, you will both earn your place in Foo Fighter the same way as the rest of us- through fighting." Tetsu looked to Ren, anticipating Asaka's next question. "Even Ren will lose his fixed spot on AL4." Asaka looked to Ren for a reaction, but he only nodded, head bowed. Tetsu turned his attention to Aichi, and instantly Aichi remembered their battle at the previous tournament. "... Neither of you were weak before you obtained that power." Both their heads rose at Tetsu's comment, Aichi especially looking to him with awe. "You've both fought many battles with powerful opponents. Use the experience you've gained up until now, and fight your way to AL4!" 

 

Aichi tried to hide his exhaustion as he mumbled his excuses for not coming home into his phone- he was staying the night with Kamui, they were going over their decks together before the final round of the tournament. Emi would easily discover this was a lie, but he was too tired to think of a safer alibi, the concept of sleep becoming more and more attractive as he found himself without the energy even to say a proper goodbye before hanging up.  
AL4 had offered him their spare room- the one that had belonged to Yahagi Kyou, his first real opponent under psyqualia. The room felt large and unfamiliar, increasing his own unease with all the events of today. He no longer had psyqualia's power to drown out his uncertainties, and suddenly he longed for Blaster Blade back- that token which had given him courage, like a power outside himself, which he'd relied on for strength and comfort. Thinking of the card made him remember Kai, and vile burned at the bottom of his stomach.  
Now that he could no longer use psyqualia, could he really become strong enough to gain Kai's approval? The thought of the man he had looked up to for so long, the one who had introduced him to vanguard, forever seeing him only as a weakling made him cringe. 

Absent-mindedly, Aichi took out his deck case, his thumb sliding up the top card. Blaster Dark...  
The card no longer resonated with him as strongly. The warrior who could stand confidently on his own, could eliminate anything without relying on the strength of any ally. It had been a symbol for the strength he gained with psyqualia, and he yearned for that feeling of invincibility again.  
Staring at the card for a long time, he decided he would make it his avatar again. Just like he had with Blaster Blade, he would fight until he gained the strength he saw in the card.  
With that thought, he fell into an exhausted sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

They started early the next morning, Aichi starting to feel his old nervousness at the sight of so many fighters gathered in one place. Though it was short notice, word had easily spread- there were two open spots on AL4, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime oppritunity to jump the rankings right before the final round of the national tournament.  
It would be impossible for them to work their way up from the bottom in time for the tournament, so Ren and Aichi kept their AL4 rankings (with Aichi recieving the fourth spot), and would have to maintain them in the fights. Losing even one match could send them back far enough in the rankings to be unrecoverable, and Aichi glanced over at Ren to see how he was handling the pressure. 

Though he didn't have the overwhelming aura he once used to intimidate his opponents, he seemed to have recovered quite a bit since last night, and the air of determination around him was enough to make the less perceptive fighters nervous. Tetsu and Asaka stood by him in support, which only made him look more ominous. 

Aichi guessed that most fighters couldn't tell they had lost their powers, if they'd even knew about them in the first place, and most didn't think they had a chance against Ren. Because of this, Aichi felt many of their gazes burn into him, and he suddenly felt a flame of annoyance swell in his body. He had defeated two high ranked members among them, but appearently he still looked like little more than a timid fighter. Aichi reached for his deck case, sliding Blaster Dark from the top of the deck.

"Ren-san," Ren met his eyes as Aichi glanced over at him. "I don't want to be dependant on anyone. Not on my teammates, or my deck; not on Kai's approval, not even on psyqualia."  
Ren smiled at him, his eyes narrowing with interest. After they nodded at each other, they each looked back to the gathered fighters, and together felt a hush fall over the room. A jolt of electricty surged through Aichi, and he rubbed his thumb affectionately against Blaster Dark's front before sliding it back into the deck case. Ren stepped forward, opening his arms in welcome. 

"So, who will be my first opponent?" 

 

The purpose of the fights became clear almost instantly: to gain confidence. 

While those who challenged them weren't weak, Tetsu's words rang out with in Aichi's mind- even without psyqualia, both of them were strong fighters.  
Many of challengers were still far below their level- arrogant fighters who dreamed of being on top were mercilessly crushed beneath them. As they gained momentum, they both started to feel more like themselves while fighting- instinct and habit returned, and Ren's powerful voice shook opponents to hopelessness with every victory, while Aichi couldn't help but laugh as he remembered his own power. 

Perhaps more than that, Aichi had forgotten what it was like to be uncertain of the outcome of a match without the frustrating fear of weakness. The stakes were still high, but as he got into his battles he found himself excited by the close matches, where a single trigger check could determine the tide of battle. Overcoming difficult odds somehow felt nearly as good as holding the game in the palm of his hand, and looking to his deck, he found the courage to play more aggressively, putting his all into a play with confidence his cards would respond.  
Occasionally he glanced over at Ren, wondering if he was feeling something similar. While he didn't know Ren's expressions well enough to be sure, he thought he could see a new light in his eyes, something playful that made him look younger somehow. 

They fought for the remaining days before the tournament, each keeping a winning streak bouyed by their new self confidence.

During that time, Aichi slowly learned about the Foo Fighters- people he had only seen as enemies or rivals before, suddenly in the position of teammates and subordinates.  
Of most interest to him was Ren. Kai's old teammate, immensily powerful and incredibly mysterious, someone who had showed Aichi tremendous cruelty only to come to him with gifts and advice he couldn't refuse. Ren had dazzled him with power, had played on his insecurites while sharing nothing about himself- at one point, Aichi had began to look up to him almost like he had looked up to Kai.  
But Ren was nothing like Kai. Outside of cardfights, Ren was goofy and absentminded, rarely weilding the dignity that always possessed him in public. Aichi wondered if this should disappoint him, but Ren was still strong, and the disgust he had for Aichi during the previous tournament was gone now. Compared to Kai, who left the team when he refused to accept Aichi's strength, Ren was refreshingly validating- the more Aichi learned about him, to more interested he became. 

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiichiiiiiiiiiii," Ren's voice floated to his ears, the tone it took still unfamiliar to him, "you keep staring at me." 

"Oh, I'm sorry." He ignored the feeling of Asaka glaring into his back as he smiled politely. "I was just thinking that I wanted to learn everything about you."  
Ren's face moved to one of shock before quickly settling into a smile. 

"That should be fine." Ren, too, ignored Asaka's indignant reaction, instead wistfully propping his chin against his knees. "I don't feel like I have to be afraid to share things with you."

 

Aichi tried to swallow his nervousness as he approached the stadium's main stage with the other members of AL4. Ren would be giving the pledge for fair play, for which all the participating teams were gathered. Tetsu seemed to notice Aichi's shifting glances around the crowd, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning in a bit to whisper to him.

"Do you regret your decision?"

"I-I don't think so."

When he remembered his reasons for leaving Q4, he still felt right about the decision. He didn't want to be the person he was before, and he didn't want to be dragged down by anyone. Even if he felt a bit bad for leaving his teammates behind, he knew he could get stronger with Foo Fighter- could be supported in a way his old team no longer could.  
Most of all, AL4 had Ren- someone he'd vowed not to leave, someone he was invested in right now. They'd shared the bond of psyqualia together, and now they were recovering from it together- right now, he felt like he had to stay by Ren's side.  
Even so, he feared scanning the crowd for his old team. He knew they shouldn't even be at this stage of the tournament, and he vaugely wondered if they had shown up at all. 

"They're here, though I don't think they've seen you yet. They're bickering amongst themselves." Tetsu spoke as if reading his thoughts, adding a bit more quietly, "Kai isn't with them." 

The sound of Kai's name filled Aichi with a mix of conflicting emotions. He wasn't sure whether he was suprised that Kai hadn't returned to the team once he'd left, though he had never told Kamui or Misaki he was leaving. He thought he wanted Kai to watch him, maybe wanted to fight him in this tournament- though Kai probably would have challenged Ren instead, a thought that filled him with frustration. 

With a ring of electrical interference, MC Miya's voice broke Aichi out of his thoughts, giving a short speech before introducing Ren and handing him the microphone. 

"Everyone who is going to fight in the finals, congratulations on getting this far." Though his voice was calm and composed, one finger fiddled restlessly with the short antenna sticking out of the bottom of the microphone, as if he was already bored of speaking. "During the fights that have brought you here, I'm sure you've made some important memories: some friendships have been made, others, destroyed." His gaze moved to Aichi as he said this, then shifting through the crowd to Q4. His old team followed Ren's gaze to Aichi, and instantly he felt their eyes burning into him. "Unfortunately, your memories here are about to end, and they will end in defeat. My team is stronger than ever. Though I will enjoy watching your vain attempts to struggle, victory surely belongs to my AL4." He smiled, and Aichi felt a shiver that made him forget his former teammates- while Ren had lost the aura of psyqualia, the new confidence he'd gained in his own strength felt even more formidible. Remembering his devestation when Ren had no longer been able to hear the voices of the cards, Aichi felt a surge of pride for Ren now, his confidence giving Aichi strength as well.  
Wrapping up his pledge for fair play, Ren walked off the stage towards his team, everyones' eyes following him. Aichi tried to look into the crowd confidently, but the number of familiar faces he saw, nearly all of them a mixture of shock and hostility, instantly wore down his resolve. Team Caesar was looking pointedly at him, and he could hear Kamui's indignant voice from the back of the crowd. It all made Aichi want to hide behind Tetsu's large frame, but Ren moved to lay a hand on Aichi's shoulder instead, leaning down slightly to murrmur into Aichi's ear. 

"Relax. You belong with us." 

He gave his shoulder a small squeeze before leading him through the middle of the crowd, Tetsu and Asaka following behind them. Feeling his team around him, Aichi felt his strength return to him. Ren was right, he belonged here- what the others thought didn't matter. Looking straight ahead, he made his way through the crowd until Kamui and Misaki stepped in front of them. 

"There you are, Aichi!"

"Onii-san, what are you doing with those jerks!?" 

Ren removed his hand from Aichi's shoulder, but Aichi just smiled at his former teammates.

"This is my team now. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner." Aichi glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his team, encouraged by Ren's smile and Tetsu's nod of approval. Feeling empowered, he let himself say what he was thinking, reminding himself that their feelings had no effect on him anymore. "You should probably find Kai. If you don't, I don't think you'll last very long." 

Kamui tried to charge at him, but Shin held him back. Misaki stared at him mouth agape, but did nothing to stop him as Aichi continued to walk past them, Ren rejoining him at his side as the others followed. 

Q4 didn't last the second round, and Aichi couldn't help feeling badly for them. After all, if he'd joined AL4 sooner, he wouldn't have gotten their hopes up.

 

The next time he saw Q4, they had barged into Foo Fighter headquarters, Kai at the head. Ren had told the guards to let them in and calmly moved with the rest of his team to the training room to wait for them.  
It had been so long since Aichi had left Q4, it felt a little silly at this point. Asaka made it a point to say this out loud, blaming Aichi for wasting their time against no-good fighters, but he thought he could see some tension in her as she watched the door for their arrival, which he felt in Tetsu as well.

They burst in, Kai shouting something about proving how wrong that power was, Kamui making some claim in the background about undoing "whatever they did" to Aichi. Aichi and Ren couldn't help but look to each other and laugh.

"The power's already disappeared."

"What?!" Kai took a step back, obviously shocked. 

"Yes," Ren's voice fell into its familiar, sinister tone, "and when it did, I gained something even greater..." Q4 braced itself, Ren stretching out his arms as if to cast some magic spell. He watched them for a moment, savoring their fear and anticipation, before using one of his outstretched arms to grab Aichi by the shoulder and pull him close. Aichi blushed slightly with embarrassment. It was such an odd time to tell a joke, but such a Ren thing to do, he realized now. As for the others, it seemed to take them all a second to understand, and slowly they turned their attention to Aichi. 

"What about you? Is that power really gone?" 

"Yes. It just disappeared..."

Kai's voice was still intense, but Aichi was having trouble taking any of it seriously as he responded with a shrug.

"After a completely pointless battle!" Ren added, obviously enjoying their confusion. 

Kai looked over at Tetsu for confirmation, and he nodded. Kamui stepped forward, obviously not convinced.

"But you were such a jerk at nationals! That's not the Aichi onii-san I know!"

Aichi shook his head, feeling his patience shorten with the comment. 

"How many times do I have to say that I've been reborn? AL4 already understands this, that's why I joined." He cast an inclusive glance over at his teammates, Ren nodding in aggreement.

"It's true that we didn't really understand what you were thinking after regionals, but I didn't think..." Aichi couldn't help but smile at Misaki's reasonable tone, despite the meloncholy it contained.

"Tetsu, is the old Ren- are they really back to normal?" Kai's tone was hard to read as he looked almost desperately at Tetsu.

"... The thing that made you quit Team Foo Fighter has disappeared. As to whether they're the same as they were, well... People change over time."

"Honestly, do you expect me to act like a middle schooler forever, Kai?" Ren pouted, clutching onto Aichi a little tighter.

"But you do act like a middle schooler, Ren-san." 

Something about the way they laughed together must have moved something in Kai, because he took a step towards them, offering something to Aichi.

"Here, this is your deck... I've been hanging onto it for you."

Ren, looking down at the deck in Kai's hand, suddenly frowned and released Aichi, as if bored.

"Thank you, Kai-kun." Ignoring Ren, Aichi took the stack of cards, affectionately thumbing the card on top. After a moment, he fanned out the deck, looking at each card individually, each one carrying its own memories. "It really does feel like it's been a lifetime since I saw this deck." Shuffling the deck back into place, he offered it back to Kai, the faces of everyone in Q4 dropping. "It's not my deck, though. It belongs to my old self- and I've already thrown that person away." He glanced down one more time at the deck, running his thumb across Blaster Blade's front. "Still, I'm glad. I wanted to say goodbye to this card you gave me." He looked back up at Kai, placing the deck into his hands. "Back then, I relied on that card to give me strength. Now, I don't want to rely on anything." When Kai hesitated, he pressed his hands in towards his chest, putting on a smile. "You were right; it's me fighting, not my cards. That's why I don't want to rely on that deck anymore."  
Aichi felt a surge of something rise in him, all the frustration he had bottled up with Kai, and once again he couldn't stop himself from speaking his mind. "I'm glad to return that card to you, it means I no longer owe you anything." A smirk snaked up his face, his tone dipping downwards. "You've always been obsessed with strength- perhaps you'll find some use in that card, now that I no longer need it."

"So that's the path you've chosen..." Aichi ignored the hurt in Kai's eyes as he took the deck, stepping back.

"Oh? You're not going to stay?" Ren had moved to sit on the railling, his feet moving back and forth. "You came all this way, I was hoping we could have a fight." He smirked a bit, glancing at Aichi. "You see, you've left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth as well." 

"No." Kai was already turning around, heading for the door. "I don't want to fight either of you."  
Kamui and Misaki looked on with confusion as Kai left the room, glancing around before hesitantly exiting as well. 

Ren gave a bored yawn as he hopped off the railing, wandering over to the standing fight table and slipping on a glove. After a moment, Aichi moved to join him, glancing up at Tetsu as he slipped on the fight glove. 

"Were you hoping he'd stay?"

Tetsu looked over at him a bit distractedly, his gaze shifting onto Ren. 

"I guess I was hoping things would turn out a little differently." 

"I don't mind." Ren's voice was betrayingly calm as he set his deck down. "Sometimes friends fall out during middle school."


End file.
